Love in Fashion
by nicluvly
Summary: Mei has won an exlusive scholarship to a fashion school in france; Kaoru is following his twin who's running away from his past. When the two meet again they find something neither of them were looking for, love. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Love in Fashion

**A/N: **Thank you for clicking, Mei and Kaoru are a recent couple obsession of mine and when they first appeared in my story 'My Brother's Wedding' I couldn't get them out of my head. After some gentle nudging from my readers, you know who you are. :D I decided to write a prequel to 'My Brother's Wedding' It is not necessary to read, MBW to understand this story however. There will be vague references to TamakiXHaruhi relationship seeing that during the timeline this story falls under, they're still dating. If you haven't read, 'My Brother's Wedding' and would like to see where Mei and Kaoru go from here I encourage you to do so. This story is completely written a total of 4 chapters and an epilogue. Chapters will be posted once a week, on Sunday, until its conclusion.

Special thanks to Enigmaticrose4 for beta-ing this for me. And for being my most recent convert to this couple.

Word Total: 11,204

Enjoy.

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Chapter One

Down an endless hallway her feet echoed off the ostentatious walls; the sound echoed in her chest. Modern style furniture looked at odds with the old world architecture. Heavy velvet draped arched windows, while students with a-symmetrical haircuts and wearing striking floral and geometric patterns leaned over the arms of modernist furniture set up in comfortable seating arrangements besides the windows. Ever few feet there was door, with large golden numbers rising ever higher upwards the farther down the hall she went. Some doors had white boards pinned to them, half scribbled messages smudged and undecipherable. Occasionally a fashion poster or notice was tacked to cork-boards to the front of the door. Mei passed an empty arched window. Through it and just beyond the rise of the city, she could see it, the Eiffel Tower. Paris, the city of lights; a place for romance; the fashion capitol of the world, Mei had arrived! A part of her was convinced at any moment she'd wake up to her mom pounding on her bedroom door. Mei squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then reopened them. Nope this wasn't a dream. She really was here, in Paris, France, attending the fashion school of her dreams.

Ahead of her the corridor split in two directions. _'You think they'd give you a map or something.' _She thought agitatedly. Mei glanced at a group of her peers standing in the doorway of an open dorm room. Together they were having an animated conversation spoken in rapid French. Pretending to decide which way to turn, Mei ease dropped on their conversation, trying to practice her newly learned French Skills. But they were speaking to fast for her to understand.

'_Damn it.' _She fumed, '_What was the point of all those lessons with Tamaki if I can't understand a damn word they say?' _

Mei hefted her designer bag, a gift from her dad, higher onto her shoulder. She turned down the hallway to the right. Students came and went as she made her way down another corridor. The other students watched her progression. It gave her the impression of being the only member in a parade. Some greeted her kindly in French, but when she tried to reply it was fumbled and heavily accented. She earned more than a few contemptuous glares and even more snickers and remarks she couldn't understand. Her face was burning bright red, when she found her room at the end of the corridor.

Inside her room, she slammed the door shut behind her. Her chest was heaving as she surveyed her room for the first time. It was moderately sized, with a large arched window, smaller than the ones out in the corridor, but still huge. Along with two twin sized beds there was a fabulous view of downtown Paris. Mei fell into the empty bed by the window. Staring out it, she watched the clouds float by as the burning blush faded from her cheeks. Glancing across the room, she noticed the other bed was already made and posters were hung on the walls surrounding it. At the foot of the other bed a pink 'C' was hung. Mei fell back onto her empty bed, the mattress exhaled in protest as she did so.

'_This may be harder than I thought. I thought when I got that scholarship everything would be easy… maybe I was wrong.'_

Mei rolled over in bed, sighing deeply; the escaping hair made her bangs flutter. Grabbing her silk strands, she rubbed them between thumb and forefinger. _'Quit moping!' _She scolded herself. _'You're in Paris! So what if you don't speak the language that well! You'll get the hang of it!'_

Mei sat up suddenly pumping her fist triumphantly.

"That's right," she said aloud.

With new found vigor, Mei unpacked her things. A few hours later, while tacking up some posters of her favorite j-pop singers. Her roommate, Cecile, arrived. Cecile was a statuesque French girl, from the south of France, with natural blonde hair and cherry red lips. She was in her second year at the school. Though she seemed interested in Mei, and spoke slowly so Mei and she could converse, it was obvious she was frustrated by Mei's poor language skills. Cecile, related information to Mei about the school, the way classes ran, teachers to watch out for and mistakes everyone made and not to worry about. It was pretty late by the time the two of them went to bed. But Mei couldn't sleep. Tomorrow would be the first day of lessons. Would she be able to keep up with her dismal French? What if she fell behind? Thoughts swirled in her head as the soft sound of Cecile's snoring filled the room.

* * *

Paris, been there, done that.

Their French?

Flawless.

Their mother had been bringing them to France since before they could speak, period. Fashion, it was their heritage. Hell, it was practically in their blood! They were expected to take over the company one day. So no one was surprised when they enrolled in one of the world's top fashion schools in Paris. Did they really need to go to fashion college? No. They'd been designing since they were barely out of diapers. It was more of a need to get away…

Kaoru glanced at his melancholy twin, sitting in the seat beside him in the limousine. Hikaru had pressed his forehead against the tinted window of their private car. Hikaru stared blankly out at the passing city streets. If you asked them 'why Paris' they would have given you the generic answers. For the city, for the fashion or for the experience –this they would have said with their trademark devious grins- But, the truth was, they were running away. Or rather, Hikaru was running away and Kaoru was tagging along. Not that he minded; Kaoru was always with his twin.

If Hikaru needed to go to school in a different country to get over Haruhi, so be it. Kaoru leaned across the seat, poking his twin in the ribs.

"Quit pouting, we're almost to the school."

Hikaru scowled at his brother, "I am not pouting." He said in tone that was suspiciously close to pout.

Kaoru gave him a 'sure you're not' look.

Which Hikaru returned with a 'don't tell me how I'm feeling' look.

Their stare off was ended when the driver pulled up to the front of the school. They slid out the back of the car and into the bright morning sunlight. The building was styled in a French architecture that reminded Kaoru of the age of Marie Antoinette. Students in stylish –probably self made clothes- hung about speaking rapidly in French. Kaoru breathed in deeply the scent of lingering summer. Standing outside this school there was a deep sense of 'right-ness' as if this was exactly where he was meant to be. Kaoru looked over to his brother shooting him a devious grin. Hikaru mirrored the expression. They had arrived.

As they walked through the crowds, students stopped and openly stared. Not a lot of Japanese natives attending this school, they supposed. As the crowds parted to let them through, it left them feeling like celebrities. The pair of them smiled mischievously as they strutted through the crowds. Things never seemed to change. This was just like another 'Ouran' only with different students and a different national language. It was quite possible they'd never stop being the center of attention. Luckily, they'd learned to accept it and embrace it.

In the classroom, were rows of wide, flat art tables, slanted upward. A few students had taken their seats towards the front, another group hung around the desk of another student in the middle of the room. The student in the center of them dramatically shared a story about his summer vacation. His arms flailing as he did so. Kaoru was reminded of Tamaki for an instant and glanced at Hikaru out of the corner of his eye to see if he noticed it. Hikaru, blissfully oblivious, had already taken his seat at the back of the classroom. Kaoru followed after and dropped into a seat beside him.

Kaoru dropped his messenger bag over the back of his chair, while Hikaru dropped his unceremoniously to the floor. Kaoru smiled, another change in the reflection, slowly their individual personalities were starting to develop. Hikaru leaned back in his chair, his feet propped up underneath his desk as he stared at the ceiling. Kaoru watched him for a moment wondering what he was thinking about. Haruhi probably…

Kaoru looked away and towards the entrance of the classroom. Students were filing in, in pairs and groups and it didn't take long for the classroom to fill up almost entirely. As expected for a fashion school the students were dressed impeccably. Of course none as well dressed as Hikaru and him; there was no room for competition really. The clock struck ten and a door to the back of the room swung open crashing into the wall behind it. Out of it strode an imposing middle aged French-man with salt and pepper hair in a black tailored suit.

He had a stern mouth and when he spoke, it was in rapid French, "_Welcome to Fashion Design, I am Mr_.-" he was cut short as the door at the back of the classroom swung open.

A blond tumbled through the door panting heavily and clutching her knees.

"_Sorry_." She said in heavily accented French. When she looked up, her too tan skin was beet red.

Kaoru shared a look with his twin and devious smiles were mirrored on their expressions. With all the excitement they'd forgotten Mei went to this school too and _why _she was going there.

The teacher approached Mei, arms folded over his chest. His thin lips looked even thinner with anger.

"_Do you enjoy interrupting my class?_" he asked crisply.

Mei scowled at him.

"_Well? Do you find it entertaining to be the center of attention_?"

Mei opened her mouth but no words came out.

"_Well? Speak up!_"

"I don't know what you're saying!" Mei snapped back in Japanese.

Kaoru and Hikaru bit their lips to stifle their laughter.

"_You will speak 'French' in my class."_ The teacher said crisply.

"_I'm sorry_," Mei ground out in French. "_I got lost_."

The teacher turned his nose up at her as if she had a particularly foul odor. "_Take your seat. I'll let it slide this time. Next time, be on time and speaking our national language_." He swept past her and to the front of the class.

Mei scowled at his retreating figure, while still hanging back in the doorway, obviously still lost. Hikaru was snickering quietly. Kaoru was tempted to join his brother. But he felt for her, obviously she had a loose grip on the language…

"Mei," he whispered.

She turned to him, her eyes narrowing. Kaoru beaconed for her to take the empty seat next to him. Glancing once more at the teacher, she stomped over to the back of the room before falling into the seat next to Kaoru.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed beneath her breath, her eyes darting to the front of the room where the teacher had proceeded with his introduction of the class.

Kaoru held up his finger, signaling her to wait. Mei glowered at him in return. Reaching into his bag, he retrieved a note pad. Laying it on the desk in front of him, he wrote:

**I go to school here. Duh.**

Mei snatched the pad from him as he handed it to her. She read it with narrowed eyes before writing back:

_I can see that. Why didn't u guys tell me u were going 2 school here? :(_

Kaoru read her note and suppressed a chuckle. From the corner of his eye, Kaoru checked on Hikaru. Hikaru seemed to be half paying attention to the teacher but mostly doodling on his desk.

Kaoru wrote back:

**You never asked.**

Mei looked up from the paper and her scowl deepened. She hastily scribbled:

_That's a lame excuse! _

Kaoru shrugged and smiled at her. Her furrowed brows and pursed lips made him want laugh, but he stifled the reaction then wrote:

**But it's the only one I got. :D Do you want help with your French?**

Mei read over his note, glanced up at him then back at the note. She wrote:

_Like I'm stupid enough to fall for that 1. No thanks._

She shoved the notepad into his hands and redirected her attention to the front of the class. Kaoru smiled slightly and shrugged. _'Suit yourself, I suppose.' _

_

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_

**A/N:** Thank You for reading! Now, while I have your attention, I'd like to invite anyone interested to join a new writing contest community for Ouran on Livejournal. Winners will receive banners custom made by our own Notimari and the right to brag over your fellow authors. We're looking to have a fun interactive community, if you're interested PM me for more information.


	2. Chapter 2

Love in Fashion

**A/N: Due to the overwhelming response I've gotten for this story already, I've decided to post Ch 2 earlier than originally intended. Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed so far, I didn't realize this couple would be quite so popular. :D **

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Chapter Two

While striding across the room, his arms were folded behind his back; he glowered at each student in turn. Speaking rapidly in French, the students cowered beneath his hard brown eyes, their eyes dropping down to their desks. whenever his gaze would come to rest on them. Out of every ten words, Mei could understand one, occasionally she picked up keywords like "Silk" or "design" and once she heard him say something that she hope didn't mean pain. If he'd speak just 'a little' slower, she'd be able to understand everything. Not that she'd ask him to, you couldn't pay her to ask him to slow down.

Mei dropped her eyes to her desktop, hoping focusing on listening, instead of watching Mr. Jacques, her design theory teacher, might improve her comprehension of the language. It wasn't. Her hands tightened on the sides of the desk. She could feel the anger bubbling up in her. Her nails dug into the desk top followed by a suspicious cracking noise as if wood was being splintered.

'_I thought I was ready for this! Why can I barely understand what's going on!' _

Mei ground her teeth, biting back a frustrated growl. Despite her best efforts, she must have been making too much noise, because someone poked her in the arm. Jerking her head up, she came face to face with the golden eyes of Kaoru Hitachiin smirking from her right, as usual. -She knew it was Kaoru because of the hair; Hikaru was still dying his hair ash, even here in Paris. And thank god, if it wasn't for that, Mei wouldn't know what twin to be mad at.-

"What?" She hissed under her breath.

Kaoru's lips curled into a mischevious smile that only filled her with dread. And for good reason, that expression was never accompanied by good news for her.

"I just thought you'd want to know, we're supposed to be sketching right now." His eyes flickered over to her empty desk top, then towards the front of the class room where Mr. Jacques was skulking around hands folded behind his back.

Mei glared at Kaoru in response, before violently tugging at her school bag and removing her sketch pad and pencils with more force than necessary. Once everything was set up on her desk, Mei looked to the white board at the front of the classroom where Mr. Jacques had written a few words.

'Image. Beauty. Fashion.' Mei looked back down at her sketch pad, twirling her pencil between her fingers absent mindedly.

'_What the hell are we supposed to be drawing?_' she wondered.

Shifting her gaze innocently to the left, Mei tried spying on Kaoru. She watched as he nibbled on the end of his pen, his lips pursed ever so slightly as if in thought.

'_He's almost cute, when he isn't grinning evilly at me,' _Mei mused. Mei snapped her head back down at her sketch pad. _'Just draw something!' _she scolded herself.

After letting her pencil hover above her page for a moment, she brought it down and began to sketch. Mei let herself get lost in the motions. This was it, this was _why _she'd come to France! Forget about the Hitachiins, forget about the language barrier. Just get lost in the fashion and passion. Several minutes passed, and a shadow loomed over her sketch pad. Mei eyes flickered up to meet Mr. Jacques's stern brown eyes.

"_Ms. Yasumura,"_ he drawled his mouth curling in a cruel smile.

Mei held his gaze trying her hardest not to scowl. "_Yes?"_ she asked.

"_What is it that you're doing?"_ he asked nearly snarling.

Mei did scowl this time, "_Sketching, what-does-it-look-like?" _She said with more attitude than she intended.

"_I see_." He sneered "_but I did not ask you to sketch, _this_." _His hand darted out before she could stop him. He tore the top page from her sketch book, holding the page from one corner as if it was a nasty piece of garbage.

By now, the entire class had turned around to watch the spectacle. A few days into class and she'd already become the teachers favorite punching bag. To her right she could hear half suppressed snickers coming from the twins. _'Damn it, they tricked me.' _

"_I'm sorry, sir."_ Mei ground out, "_What am I _supposed_ to be sketching_."

"_I would assume you would know, if you'd been paying attention Ms. Yasumura_." He replied mildly, but his voice dripped with contempt.

Mei bit her lip to keep back the angry retort, drawing blood instead. It would be so much easier to pay attention if she understood the language better! Was she in completely over her head here? She was beginning to suspect she was.

"_I was sir."_ She snarled between gritted teeth.

"_Not well enough_." He said snidely. "_Now, crumple this garbage and draw what those words mean to you._" he tossed her sketch back onto her desk and strode back across the room.

Mei's scowl deepened, "_Yes, sir_." She muttered.

Mei crumpled the page and tossed it to the floor in agitation. She leaned back in her chair, sighing raggedly but really wanting to cry in frustration. _'What the hell does he know!' _She fumed.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Kaoru reaching down to pick it up her sketch. He un-crumpled it smoothing it out on his desk top before examining it. With her eyes averted, Mei watch inconspicuously as Kaoru took out his pen and scribbled a note on the corner of her sketch. Kaoru folded it in half, before leaning over dropping the sketch back onto her desk. Mei stared at it as if it were a foreign object. Deciding it wasn't, she unfolded it carefully. Above her sketch, Kaoru had written:

**You shouldn't throw this away. It's good, even if it wasn't what the teacher wanted.**

Mei snapped; she was tired of them playing games with her. They obviously knew she was struggling with the language. For them it was all easy, _they _could speak French flawlessly and all the girls twittered around them like they were celebrities! They were head of the class without trying and it had only been a couple days! So, why did they have to pick on her!

"Leave me alone, Kaoru!" she shouted crumpling up the sketch again she threw it at Kaoru's head.

He blinked at her in obvious shock as the entire class turned to stare at the pair of them. Mei realized too late every eye was trained on her. A few people nearby were snickering, others whispering to one another. She caught words like 'foreigner' and 'ridiculous'. Her cheeks burned bright red. From the front of the room, Mr. Jacques stomped towards her looking thunderous.

"_OUT! Out of my classroom!"_ he screamed, or at least that's what she assumed he said, since she was so embarrassed she could barely understand him.

Without a word, she gathered up her things and fled the classroom, the air filled with chatter. More insults were flung at her as she pushed out the classroom down. The tears spilling down her crimson cheeks did little to cool them.

'_I never should have come here…_

* * *

It was a beautiful fall day, fat colorful leaves drifted down listlessly from the trees. Kaoru and Hikaru walked through the school's garden. Large coordinating scarves overshadowed their faces, tucked beneath heavy pee-coats. When they exhaled, clouds of vapor hung around their faces. From the corner of their eyes, they noticed crowds of girls hanging about watching them. Speaking rapidly in French and giggling every so often when their eyes glided over to the pair of them. Kaoru's eyes grazed over them and back onto his brother.

Head tilted towards the sky, Hikaru stared at the falling leaves, seemingly lost in thought, which seemed uncommonly pensive for the compulsive twin. Kaoru took a seat on a bench at his brother's side.

"What do you think everyone back in Japan is doing?" Kaoru asked conversationally.

Hikaru looked back at his brother mildly. "I don't know…" he dropped onto the bench next to his twin. Crossing his legs, he leaned back into the cold metal bench.

There was a brief silence.

"Honey emailed me," Kaoru remarked nonchalantly.

Hikaru continued staring off into the distance, but his golden eyes were trained on his twin. "Yeah?"

"Just thought you'd want to know how Haruhi is doing in university… You haven't talked to her since graduation last spring, huh?"

"Does it matter?" Hikaru shrugged in a not entirely convincing way.

"I guess it doesn't." Kaoru replied indifferently, he stared at his polished shoes and the smashed fallen leaves beneath them.

Across the courtyard, a group of girls walked by, all too innocently. They fluttered their eyes in their direction; they paid them no mind.

"I haven't seen Mei in class for a couple days." Hikaru said in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

Kaoru nodded, "I noticed that too. Do you think she's sick?"

Hikaru shrugged, "I don't know. But she looked pretty upset the other day when the teacher told her off. Why'd she even come to France if she can barely speak French?" Hikaru said contemptuously.

Kaoru was pensive for a moment, "I don't know… I offered her to teach her French, but she said no."

Hikaru bark-laughed, "Like she would take lessons from us! She's even more stubborn than-" Hikaru halted and his expression darkened.

Kaoru laughed to ease the tension. "You're right, she reminds me of a mule."

Hikaru forced a laugh and the moment was broken. Checking his watch, Kaoru realized it was getting late. They'd headed to class where Kaoru discovered Mei absent for the fifth day in a row. Though it was none of his business, he was beginning to feel concerned. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for Mei's breakdown. If he'd just _told _her what the assignment was, the teacher wouldn't have told her off. It was just too much fun to make her scowl, he couldn't help himself. He was still childish at heart, in some aspects, though not nearly as bad as his twin! But he knew he had to check on her or it would weigh on his conscious all day.

When class ended that day, Kaoru made up an excuse, promising to meet Hikaru later at their flat. Hikaru shrugged him off and strolled off to go back to their private car, without much argument. Kaoru wondered if Hikaru wanted the alone time anyway. He'd been pretty reserved since they'd arrived in France.

It was easy enough to find Mei's dorm. –especially if you're an expert at flirting with girls from being a host- When Kaoru arrived at Mei's dorm room, a statuesque blond was exiting the room. Her eyes came to rest on Kaoru and her expression lit up like Christmas.

"_Oh. Are you lost?_" she asked sweetly.

Kaoru glanced at the room behind her; it was the right room.

"_I hope not_." He replied politely, "_I'm looking for Mei. Is she your dorm-mate_?"

The blond seemed disappointed but recovered quickly.

"_She is_," the blond said tossing her blonde mane over her shoulder. "_But, I do not think she's up for company right now…_"

"_Why do you say that?"_ Kaoru prodded, his brows furrowed with concern. What if Mei had been sick all this time, if she could barely speak the language when she was healthy, how would she tell people what she needed when she was sick? Kaoru shook off the thought; he was starting to sound like Tamaki.

The blonde glanced over her shoulder towards the room. "_She's indisposed…" _she said delicately.

Kaoru smirked relieved, _'so she's not sick.'_ "_That's fine with me_." he motioned to pass the blond who shrugged and walked away without a backwards glanced. Apparently she was bored with the whole thing. Reaching the door, he knocked deliberately.

"_What?"_ Mei demanded.

Kaoru's smirk only deepened, she definitely couldn't be sick if she was still that feisty. He decided not to answer; it only made his visit more entertaining to surprise her. He listened as Mei stomped across the room and a few seconds later, she flung the door open.

"_You have a key, why the hell are you knocking?"_ Mei barked. Then her mouth dropped open. And so did Kaoru's.

Mei wasn't wearing any makeup.

"What the hell are you doing here!" she hissed while covering her too tanned skin, which had taken on a charming red shade, with her hands.

"Mei… you're not wearing makeup." Kaoru blurted.

Mei turned her back to him, "What the hell! Did you come all the way here just to make fun of me some more!" fumbling with the door from behind her back, she attempted to close the door in his face. Kaoru halted the door with his foot.

"No." he said gently, she glared at him from over her shoulder in response. _'She's pretty without all that make up on.' _He smiled at the thought. "I came here to check on you. You haven't been to class in days…" he continued.

"Well, you can thank yourself for that." She snapped turning to face him shielding her face with her forearm, "I'm dropping out. I never should've come here in the first place..." She turned back into her room.

Over her shoulder, Kaoru noticed the open cardboard boxes and posters half torn from the wall. He frowned. She couldn't be leaving…

"Why, you have so much talent!" he blurted. Stopping her in her tracks she turned to face him, with a curious expression, one torn between a scowl and confusion.

She settled on a scowl and dropped her hands from her face to rest her hands on her hips. He was struck by the strong aura of beauty she exuded in that moment.

"Quit messing with me. I never should have come here in the first place. I'm nowhere near as talented as you and your brother. I can barely speak French…" she turned away from him again motioning to cover her face once more.

It was rather impulsive, but Kaoru grabbed a hold of Mei's hand and pulled it away from her face. "You are talented." He said softly, "that's why I told my mom to give _you _the scholarship."

Mei's mouth was open in a perfect 'O' "You-u," she stuttered.

"Yeah," He said sheepishly as he dropped her hand and stepped away from the doorway. "The scholarship you won is funded by my family."

Mei stumbled back nearly stumbling over an open box. Kaoru moved forward to catch her but she batted his arm away.

"I'm not some damsel in distress," she snapped.

He stepped back away from her. "Alright." He smirked.

"Quit smirking like that. It makes me think you're up to something," She snapped again.

Kaoru half heartedly attempted to curb his amusement, "Sorry."

She scowled still, "Well even if _you_ think I have talent, I still don't know the language. How am I supposed to learn anything when I only understand one word in ten?"

"Let me teach you French." Kaoru offered.

He didn't know why, but he _really _wanted to teach her.

Mei crossed her arms over her chest. "How do I know you're not messing with me?"

Good point.

"I swear I'm not." He held his hands up in a helpless gesture.

"That's not worth anything and you know it." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Kaoru smirked, he couldn't help it. "Alright, I swear on Hikaru's life."

Mei leveled him for a moment, as if accessing the weight of his 'vow' "alright." She said slowly. "But if either of you pull anything funny, I swear I'll beat the living crap out of you." she pointed an accusatory finger towards his chest.

"I'm terrified." He mock shuttered.

"I mean it!" she poked him in the chest.

"Alright." He held up his hands in surrender.

Mei seemed partly satisfied.

There was a moment of comfortable silence, "How about we start now?" he smiled breaking the silence.

"Alright…" she looked at him suspiciously.

"Repeat after me: _Mon enseignant, est attrayant_"

"_Mo-n ense-ign-ant es-t at-tra-yan-t_." Mei repeated haltingly. "What the hell does it mean?"

"My teacher is hot."

Mei responded with a thunk to his head. "I said nothing funny!"

Kaoru grinned back at her while rubbing the sore spot on his head. Maybe this would be more fun than he thought.

**A/n: One more thing, me and my fabulous beta Enigmaticrose4 have written several colabs together recently and our most recent one is a Harry Potter crossover entitled 'Hogwarts Host Club', yes its exactly how it sounds. :D check it out if you wish. :D:D:D **


	3. Chapter 3

Love in Fashion

Chapter Three

It was amazing what knowing the language could do for your studies. Admittedly, Mei had been initially wary of trusting Kaoru, and on occasion Hikaru, to teach her French. Convinced they'd teach her nothing but offensive phrases and the wrong words for wrong meanings, she'd avoided asking them. Even when she knew they spoke fluently. That's why she'd gone to Tamaki in the first place. He hadn't been a _bad_ teacher, more like too busy… with his university work, work with the Suoh company and dating Haruhi, he didn't have a lot of free time to teach Mei French. So, she'd made do with her language tapes and his sparse lessons, hoping she would get by on tenacity alone. She'd been wrong, obviously. She realized she'd been wrong about Kaoru, as well. Before their lessons started, she'd been dreading them. But it was either take the _'lessons' _or drop out of the school of her dreams. And really, she was just too damn stubborn to just give up.

So, for the past four months, she'd been meeting Kaoru at his apartment, where he patiently, six nights a week, practiced French with her. She had a strong base already; all she really needed was someone to speak slowly to her so she could improve her comprehension. Kaoru insisted they only spoke French in the apartment, which was annoying at first but in the end proved helpful. Most days, Hikaru would hang around occasionally adding in his own pointers but he mostly kept to himself. Kaoru was her main teacher and in a way her closest friend here.

At first, during classes, Kaoru would write notes to Mei to explain to her what the teacher was saying. Until over halfway through the semester, Mei realized she understood! Not just key phrases or a few words, she understood everything Mr. Jacques was saying. Her proudest moment had been when she wrote a note back to Kaoru, proclaiming she could understand all by herself.

Now, winter was fast approaching and with it, the end of the first term. Mr. Jacques paced the front of the room, as he often did. Speaking rapidly as the students sketched some preliminary sketches for an assignment.

"Pencils down." He said sharply.

Everyone dropped their pencils in unison, the clatter of pencils filling the air.

Mr. Jacques strode about the room, craning over tables and making arbitrary comments as he went. From beside her, Kaoru prodded Mei in the shoulder. Mei glared at him, but only half heartedly. She'd literally developed tough skin from all the poking she endured. Hikaru, to Kaoru's other side, was peering over his twins shoulder.

"Are you going to show us your sketch?" Kaoru asked raising his brows towards his hair line.

Mei covered her sheet with her arm. "Hell, no! No peeking."

"Aww come on!" Hikaru said in a too loud whisper, reverting Mr. Jacques attention to their corner of the room.

"_Ah, Ms. Yasumura, let me see your assignment_," he held out his hand expectantly.

Mei glanced down at her paper then back at Mr. Jacques. From the corner of her eye, she could see Hikaru and Kaoru making jeering faces at the back of their teacher's head. Taking a deep breath, Mei handed Mr. Jacques her assignment. Snatching it roughly, a cruel grin was already spreading across his lips. Mei held her breath as his eyes moved slowly across the paper. His lips were drawn thin as if in disappointment. Mei felt her stomach clench.

"_Very good_," he said nearly inaudibly, letting the sketch fall to the table before he strode away.

From her right Hikaru and Kaoru had matching slack jawed expression.

"He did not!" Hikaru said loudly.

"He really complimented you." Kaoru smiled at her and Mei couldn't help but smile back.

Back at the front of the classroom, Mr. Jacques held up his hand to silence the sudden chattering class.

"Winter break is fast approaching, but do not think you will get off so easily! Now is when the real work begins." He paused for a moment glaring around the room. "I want you all to gather into groups. Then as a group, you shall design a full collection. This collection will be your final and worth 90% percent of your grade for the second term. As a team you design and showcase the full functioning collection. All collections will be exhibited at the schools year-end fashion exhibition." Mr. Jacques stared at them each in turn, focusing especially on Mei, Kaoru and Hikaru at the back of the room. "I will give you a few minutes to form groups."

He turned his back to them as if the entire business was unpalatable to him. The sound of thirty students rising from their chairs disrupted the silence following the teacher's speech. People formed into groups quickly. Mei should've known from the moment he'd announced a group project that her fate was sealed, but she'd been half hoping otherwise.

Hikaru and Kaoru cornered her before she could leave her desk, leaning over her like a pair of mischevious cats.

"So, what should our collection be?" Hikaru grinned.

"Who said I'm working with you?" Mei snarled leaning away from them and folding her arms over her chest.

"The fact that there's no one else left." Kaoru motioned to the grouped off classroom.

Mei scowled at the pair of them; she should have known this would have happened. But what surprised her more was that she wasn't _that_ bothered by it.

"Why don't we meet later, to brainstorm?" Kaoru offered helpfully. Hikaru and Mei each shot him a look that said 'I'd rather eat dirt.'

There was a strained silence as the three of them stared at one another. Kaoru smiling and Mei and Hikaru working out ways to get out of 'brain storming'

"Actually…" Hikaru said sheepishly breaking the silence. He rubbed the back of his neck with an open palm. "I can't tonight… I kind of have a date."

Mei glowered at Hikaru, _'Liar,' _she thought. '_He's trying to put all the work on me.'_

"Oh," Kaoru said slowly. Mei turned to look at the other twin, who was noticeably stricken by this revelation. Did that mean Hikaru was telling the truth? Or was this another one of their tricks.

There was a silent message passed between the two of them that Mei could only guess at.

"Well, why don't you and I meet up tonight, Mei? At least _we _can get some work done."

Kaoru forced a smile and playfully grabbed his brother on the ribs. The tension seemed to melt away, if only on the surface. Mei couldn't be sure, but there was something deeper to this situation she didn't understand.

* * *

Hikaru glanced at himself lazily in the mirror, fidgeting with his jacket and flattening his ash air. He smiled at his own reflection but it looked more like a grimace than anything else. From the bed, resting his head on his folded arms, Kaoru watched his brother. Hikaru sighed and clutched the sides of his vanity.

"You're really going through with this?" Kaoru said after a lengthy silence.

Hikaru glanced over his shoulder at his brother. "I'm never going to get over her, if I don't get out there." Hikaru shrugged while forcing another smile.

"I'm not against you dating, it's just…"

"Just what?"

"You barely know this girl."

"How am I supposed to get to know someone, if I don't spend time with her?"

Touché.

"I don't know; it just doesn't feel right." Kaoru sat up on the bed regarding his brother.

Hikaru stared at his reflection in the mirror. "I need to get over her, Kaoru. I can't keep hoping…"

Kaoru stood up and walked over to his brother. Resting his forehead against his brother's back, he wrapped his arms around Hikaru's waist. "Alright. I trust your judgment."

They stayed like that for a moment, feeling their one-ness, their twin-ness, sharing the comfort only they could give one another. They pulled apart when a familiar knock interrupted the silence. They shared a look as Mei hollered crudely through the door.

"She's early!" Kaoru grinned at his brother.

He practically jogged out the bedroom door.

Hikaru was left in silence.

"I don't have the heart to tell him…" Hikaru sighed, staring at his own reflection once more, "I'm terrified that he's going to fall in love one day and I'll be left behind…"

* * *

By the time Kaoru answered the door, Mei had been worked up into a fury.

"Took you long enough," she snapped.

"Sorry," Kaoru grinned stepping out of the way to let her in.

Mei stomped through the door, pausing in the entry where she kicked off her three inch hills and slipped on a pair of house slippers set aside especially for her.

"Alright, let's get this over with." She said stomping over to the living room. Kaoru followed after.

In the living room, Mei flopped unceremoniously onto one of the French Victorian couches, dropping her shoulder bag onto the floor beside her. Initially, she'd been impressed by their lavish flat. She had oohed and ahhhed over the expensive art work and elegant furnishings. Now, months later, it seemed like she could care less, she treated their flat like any other apartment. He liked that about her.

Hikaru emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, spending a moment or two teasing Mei before leaving. Once he left, Kaoru offered Mei something to drink but only after she stared at him for five minutes trying to translate just that, with her eyes. As he exited the room he heard her accuse him of lacking 'gentlemanly charm'. The thought only made him smile. He'd reappeared a few minutes later with a tray from the kitchen which he set on the gilt-table between the couches.

Kaoru dropped onto the couch across from her, "So, where do we get started?"

Mei took a sip of her tea in a crude-lady-like fashion, or rather it would have been lady like if it were anyone other than Mei doing it, "I was thinking we should pick a theme," Mei said after a brief silence. "Maybe traditional Japanese with a modern punk-rock twist."

Kaoru nodded, "I'm liking the updated traditional Japanese style. I don't know about the punk rock… it seems over done. The shredded stuff with too bright colors…"

"Alright. Then how about traditional update with a bit more sophistication?"

"I'm liking it; what are you thinking?"

Mei pressed a finger to her bright pink lips, "Maybe mixing classic French lines with Japanese patterns…"

"Perfect!" Kaoru cheered, "Let's sketch some ideas."

"Alright."

Mei hefted her oversized bag onto her lap, Kaoru watched her as she fumbled around inside her bag. Her lips were pursed and her brow was furrowed, which only seemed to exaggerate her facial flaws, but Kaoru couldn't help but think she looked cute. After a few minutes she removed a large sketch pad. Glancing up she noticed Kaoru's hands were empty. Snarling that 'she wasn't doing all the work', she demanded he go get his own sketch pad. Kaoru rose from his seat, and went to retrieve his sketch pad. Smirking in a way he knew Mei hated. But when he returned she already had her sketch pad open and was scribbling away. He dropped back down into the couch across from her, opening his own sketch pad and went to work.

They worked in silence for quite some time, before Kaoru broke the silence. "What have you got?"

"You show me first." Mei eyed him suspiciously.

"Come on, we're partners, don't you trust me?" he grinned deviously which didn't help the 'trusting case'.

Mei pressed her note book to her chest, "I told you, I'm not doing all the work here!" she scolded.

Kaoru jumped up from his seat and plopped down beside Mei on the other couch. "Come on." He wheedled. Mei's scowl deepened as she scooted away.

"I'll show you, as soon as you show me yours." She said in a bossy tone.

"Is that a promise?" he purred seductively, he couldn't help it.

Mei's face burned crimson and her grip on the sketch book loosened. Noticing his opportunity, Kaoru's hand darted out to snatch the notebook from Mei. But while retracting his prize, Mei's hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Stop messing with me," she said softly not meeting his gaze.

There was a pregnant pause.

"What do you mean." He said much gentler than he intended, while searching her face. She still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Just stop…" she whispered.

Mei dropped his hand and he let it fall to his lap. Kaoru stared at her averted face for a few moments, admiring the silky blond hairs that fell against her tanned skin. The tan was starting to fade, ever so slightly, now she was more bronzed; it was much more appealing. She still wore too much makeup but he could see the beautiful woman just beneath all the mascara and foundation.

Kaoru grabbed Mei's chin and forced her to face him. "I'll never lie to you." he rubbed his thumb along her chin before pulling away. "How about some snacks?" he said conversationally, smiling deviously.

"And what the hell was that?" Mei shouted as she jumped to her feet.

Kaoru shrugged in response. "It's whatever you think it means."

Mei continued to spout off behind him, and Kaoru smiled secretly to himself. _'I didn't realize it until now. But I'm falling for Mei.' _He laughed loudly as Mei let go a string of curses in French that Hikaru had taught her. He laughed harder. _'Definitely falling for her.'_


	4. Chapter 4

Love in Fashion

Chapter Four

It was impressive the way they could mirror one another to intimidate. Lean arms folded over their chests, perfect devil smiles too reminiscent of a Cheshire cat for comfort, at times. It was as if just looking at them you _knew _you couldn't trust them. From the moment she'd met them they'd given her hell. If it wasn't teasing her about wearing too much makeup, it was their inane questions about how commoners live. Since she'd started going to school with them, she'd gotten to know them as individuals and the three of them were closer. And in truth, they were her only friends in this country. Not by choice, they just loved to monopolize her time. It's what they were best at. If it wasn't Kaoru teaching her French, then it was the three of them working on their group project. They were close friends, sort of. She couldn't _really_ call them 'close' because she couldn't one-hundred percent trust them. It's not that she didn't _want _to trust them; they just made it difficult to do so. Especially Kaoru, lately, it seemed he was messing with her even more than usual, only it'd been escalating over the past couple of months. He would flirt with her using that devilish smile, so she knew it wasn't sincere, and the constant innuendo, it was maddening.

But He wasn't her type, right? She'd always gone for the more gentlemanly types in the past… or at least she _aimed _for that type… And really, it wasn't that Kaoru _wasn't _a gentleman. He was actually very kind and thoughtful. But that was beside's the point. The Hitachiins were pranksters and she knew it. Both from firsthand experience and from things Haruhi had mentioned in her offhanded way. No, she couldn't let them get _too _close. Keep them at arm's reach, it kept her from getting hurt. She wouldn't fall prey to his charms. She wasn't looking to get her heart broken.

That's what she'd like to tell herself; the truth was, the more time they spent together, the more they got under her skin, and not in an entirely bad way. They were learning ways to manipulate her, and she them, which brought her back to her point.

Mei sat in a high back chair, Hikaru to her right with the ash colored hair and Kaoru to the left -she was getting to the point where she could almost tell them apart without seeing their hair color. But the hair helped, a lot- Each of them was leaning over her, their hands folded over their chests identically, trying, and failing, to intimidate her.

"Hell no," Mei said firmly.

"Mei, you have to! We're down a model and the shows in an hour! We don't have time to find another one!" Kaoru explained patiently.

"I don't care! This is just as much my collection as yours! I want to be able to enjoy seeing it on the runway not be in it! Besides, it's not my fault he broke up with Jacquelyn this morning." Mei scowled in Hikaru's direction.

"It wasn't Jacquelyn I broke up with, that was last month. It was Marie." Hikaru said with an indifferent shrug.

"Are you sure it was Marie?" Kaoru remarked conversationally. "I thought her name was Renee."

"No, Renee was the week before last."

"Oh. Now I remember."

"Who gives a damn about your girlfriend of the week!" Mei snapped and both brothers returned their attention to her.

"Mei's right," Kaoru said in a would-be-firmly-tone, if he hadn't been smirking so broadly. "We need to solve this model issue. So, Mei, get into hair and makeup and stop complaining!"

"Why don't one of you put on a wig and walk down the aisle!" she pointed an accusatory finger between the two of them.

They shared a look and then turned that devilish smirk on her that they were famous for. After months of working on their project together however, Mei had become desensitized to it.

"Come now, Mei." Hikaru drawled, leaning in towards her.

"If you cooperate, we'll take you shopping." Kaoru finished, pushing a stray strand away from her face. Mei fought a blush and looked at the ground.

'_Damn them, they know I can't turn down a shopping trip! But how can I walk in the show after all the work I've put into it!' _Mei scowled at the inner workings of her monologue.

A few minutes passed. She was saved momentarily when Hikaru was approached by one of the models, a long legged brunette with green eyes. They chatted briefly before slipping away together, with Hikaru's arm wrapped around her shoulder and a forced host club smile on his face. Mei glanced up in time to see the pained expression flicker across Kaoru's features.

"Where the hell is he going?" Mei demanded.

Kaoru whipped back around to look at Mei.

"She needed some help with one of the outfits…" Kaoru glanced back to the space where his brother disappeared.

"He got over Jacquelyn-Marie… or Renee… whoever the hell he was dating." Mei grumbled. Secretly glad for the distraction from the modeling issue.

Kaoru dropped into a seat besides Mei, "He's not really into any of them." Kaoru shrugged helplessly, "It's his own diversion."

"From Haruhi." Mei added.

Kaoru nodded.

Silence stretched out for a moment. Mei watched Kaoru suspiciously from the corner of her eye. He looked so vulnerable with his auburn brows tilted towards his nose and his lips drawn thin.

'_You can see he's thinking hard… He must really care about his brother…'_

"He'll figure it out eventually." Mei said knowledgably.

Kaoru glanced over at Mei and a smile bloomed on his features, "I know he will."

'_He's pretty handsome when he's not smiling like a little devil.' _Mei conceded internally.

"So, stop worrying about him all the time. Don't you ever worry about yourself? What do you want Kaoru? Have you ever stopped to think about that? Why don't you date, huh?" Mei launched into a tirade finishing by jabbing him lightly in the chest.

Kaoru's smile turned wistful. "I guess I'm just waiting for the right girl." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye beneath his dark lashes. Mei looked away fighting another blush.

'_Don't let him play with you.' _

"So, are you going to walk the runway or not?" Kaoru said breaking the tension.

Mei's mouth opened in an 'O' then turned to scowl at the ground which had recently become of intense interest. Really, she didn't have a choice from the start…

"I guess, I'll walk… but you're bringing me out at the end! I will not let you two take all the credit. Not after all the nights I stayed up late sewing!"

"Of course, of course." Kaoru waved his hand dismissively then glanced at his watch. "Oh, we better hurry and get you into makeup!"

He grabbed Mei by the wrist before she had a chance to change her mind. In the makeup tent, they found Hikaru leaning against a vanity mirror, directing the makeup artist who was preparing one of their models. Kaoru led Mei over to a chair and sat her down. Glancing at the clock, he turned back to her.

"We're running out of time. I'll have to do your makeup myself."

Mei scowled, "I can do my own damn makeup, thank you!"

"Not in a way that we have styled for the show." Kaoru countered already setting out brushes and facial cleanser for the thick layer of makeup already Mei's face.

Mei bit her lip, glancing at the other models as the makeup artist applied their makeup. She wasn't sure if she was willing to stand in front of a crowd with less makeup on than she had…

"Seriously, Kaoru, I can do it myself-"

Kaoru halted her inevitable tirade with a gentle finger to her lips. "Just let me do it." He said in his gentle way. Mei quieted reverting to scowling.

Kaoru tilted a bottle of makeup remover, filling a cotton ball. Mei cringed as he brought the astringent smelling liquid to her face. Though his touch was gentle, she could almost feel the layers of makeup peeling off. Leaving her feeling exposed. Her eyes flickered over towards Hikaru who was openly flirting with the model from earlier. Inevitable her eyes travelled up to Kaoru's face. His brows were tilted together as he concentrated. He noticed her staring and smiled. Mei's stomach flopped in response.

"I don't like people seeing me without makeup on," she mumbled.

Kaoru laughed lightly, "But I've seen you without make up on, remember?"

Mei dropped her gaze back to her feet. She couldn't meet his gaze. It was just like him to bring up something embarrassing at a time like this. When all her makeup was removed, Kaoru moved on to applying foundation, thick but not as thick as she liked it.

"I feel naked." She grumbled.

"You're not." Kaoru replied.

"Put more on!" Mei glanced at her own reflection, "The overhead lights will wash me out."

"You'll look fine."

Kaoru turned her away from the mirror so she couldn't watch her reflection. Hikaru, the model and the makeup artist exited the tent. Mei fidgeted more.

"Kaoru, make sure the eye shadow is on thick and use a dark rose to accent the colors…"

"Mei," he pressed his thumb against her cheek and forced her to look up at him. "I know what I'm doing. Okay?"

She nodded mutely, struck by how moist and inviting his lips looked and so close to hers. They were even parted ever so slightly. Kaoru must have been thinking the same thing because he leaned in and his lips brushed hers gently. Electricity shot through her body, leaving her weak limbed in the chair. Kaoru pulled away with a silly smirk.

"Don't worry, you're beautiful," He said gently.

He kissed her? She was too shocked and embarrassed to form a reply. Blushing crimson she stared at her feet.

Kaoru applied the rest of her makeup in silence. What more was there to say? He pulled away and Mei couldn't meet his gaze.

Mei jumped out her seat and walked a few paces before she turned around but couldn't meet Kaoru's eyes, "You shouldn't mess with people's emotions, Kaoru. You might really hurt someone someday." She said softly before walking away to wardrobe without another word.

How could he kiss her and say she was beautiful? When it was so obviously a lie? How could he have known she was starting to fall for him? It wasn't fair.

* * *

The show was an absolute success. Mei had been a power house on the catwalk, all her fiery passion for life had shown through on the stage. Mei was the image of a fashion goddess, as she strutted down the catwalk in one of her own creations, an a-line cocktail dressed inspired by a traditional kimono complete with obi sash and falling cherry blossoms on the skirt. They'd styled her hair reminiscent of a geisha with tumble of blond curls cascade loose down her back. A few other models had gone after and before, but Mei stole the show. When the three of them had taken the stage for their bow, Mei looked stunning in a long sleeved empire waist dress, with the pattern of falling maple leaves –another Mei design- Kaoru was on an absolute high. Everything was perfect, except for the fact that Mei wouldn't meet his gaze.

Kaoru had assumed, when he kissed her, she would have understood his feelings. But apparently something had gotten lost in translation. It had been rather impulsive and not the ideal place to confess his feelings to Mei. Considering the shows time constraints there wasn't time to talk. It had just sort of happened. Now, Kaoru was starting to realize, maybe he hadn't made himself clear. Mei was a little too much like Hikaru; you had to practically spell it out to her. Now all he had to do was find her and explain.

It was the after exhibition party. The school had rented out the banquet hall of a local hotel and the entire school was gathered. Kaoru weaved his way through the crowd of exited fellow students. A few stopped him to congratulate him on the show. He smiled politely, lingering to talk for as briefly as possible before moving on. Hikaru he had lost somewhere in the crowd. Maybe he had his arm wrapped around some model, trying and failing to forget the one that got away. For once Kaoru didn't care. Mei was right, Hikaru would figure it out. And Kaoru, for once he should try and do something for himself. But where the hell was Mei?

He found her at the far end of the room, chatting with her dorm-mate and a few other girls from school. As she talked she smiled broadly and her eyes lit up with her smile, her blond hair was pulled back slightly with a few discreet bobby-pins, her hair falling in waves down her shoulders. Her bronze skin was both foreign and beautiful next to the pale French girls. Mei hadn't changed her makeup after the show, which was surprising. The muted, natural colors suited her and enhanced her natural beauty. She was beautiful. Now if only he could get close to her to explain himself! Their eyes met across the room and he saw her scowl. Even that didn't diminish her beauty.

He reached the group and gave them his best host club smile. "Sorry, ladies, May I borrow Mei for a moment?"

They all fluttered their eyelashes at him, all of them except Mei. She just rolled her eyes. Without waiting for her to protest, he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her away.

"Can we talk?" he asked once they were wading through the crowd.

She glared but didn't protest. "Yeah, I guess so."

He smiled at her in return, it only deepened her scowl. At the back of the room there was a balcony, overlooking Paris. That's where he led her. Creeping vines crawled over the stone pillars of the balcony and blooming jasmine filled the air with intoxicating fragrance. Wrenching herself free of Kaoru's grip, Mei walked over to the edge of the patio and stared out over the city.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly turning to face him with her arms folded over her chest in a most un-lady like fashion.

He bit his lip to keep him from laughing out loud. Maybe that's why he'd fallen for her, because she was so different from anyone he'd ever known.

"I need to explain about the kiss."

"Are you actually apologizing for teasing me?" she lifted her brow.

Kaoru shook his head, "I haven't been teasing you." he took a step closer and Mei glared at him warily.

"Sure you have, that's all you and Hikaru have done from the moment I met you…"

Kaoru shrugged, "Well yeah. That's what we do, this is different though…"

"Different how?'

Kaoru smiled and closed the distance between them. He took Mei's hand in his. "Different because I like you."

Mei's mouth opened but no words came out.

He could see that obstinate defiance rising in her. Before she could get her half formed words out, he pulled her to his chest and tilted her head back then kissed her, leaving no room for arguments. They pulled away panting a few moments later.

Mei pressed her fingers to her lips. "You mean it?" she said incredulously.

"Every word. I told you I wouldn't lie to you."

She didn't remove her fingers from her lips but he could see the understanding settling behind her eyes. "Well, do you want to be my boyfriend or something now?" she asked brashly.

Kaoru barked and laughed. "That's the idea…"

Mei's brows furrowed. "Alright." She nodded, "But I'm not going to make it easy on you! You have to take me shopping whenever I want!"

He smiled, "Of course."

"And I'm not going to let you dump all the work on me either…"

"Mei." She halted and he pulled her close again. "You talk too much." He kissed her again and this time his hands wound around her waist and into that beautiful blond hair. They pulled away after a few breathless minutes, "This is the part where you tell me how _you _feel, Mei." He chided.

Mei stared at him with a 'no shit' expression. "You'd have to be dense to not realize it…"

"It's nice to hear the words." he smirked.

"I like you too," she mumbled.

"That's what I thought," he replied

Mei's expression was one of perfect indignation. He smirked, which only fueled her agitation, Mei was sputtering working up into a good tirade, when Kaoru pulled her to his chest. Mei halted half scowling half smiling. "You know what; I love it when you rant." He smiled and Mei opened her mouth then closed it.

She settled on a smile, "I love it when you smirk, I guess."

Kaoru laughed and Mei scowled again. And in that moment he knew, she'd been the girl he'd been waiting for all this time. He just hadn't known it till now.

**A/N: thank you so very much to everyone whos read and reviewed. I never knew when I wrote this little five-shot it would have the overwhelming response its had. All that remains is the epilogue in which I'll thank you all proper. For now I give you my sincerest thanks. **


	5. Epilogue

Love in Fashion

Epilogue

Where'd the time go? It seemed just yesterday they were doing their first exhibition for school and now they were mere months from graduation and returning to Japan for good. Two and half years, they'd been dating. After their sophomore year of school, Mei moved into their flat with them. She spent a majority of her time their _anyway. _And Hikaru and Kaoru _were _sleeping in separate rooms, so they decided it would save Mei some living expenses to stay in their flat. It'd been one year since then, things were going great. And for a little while, Hikaru seemed to have found someone for him as well, at least that's what they thought until two weeks before Christmas. Hikaru and his longest term girlfriend to date, Alanoire, mutually broke up. Hikaru said it just wasn't working out, but Kaoru suspected Hikaru just wasn't over a certain someone they'd seen at Honey's wedding shortly before Hikaru met Alanoire.

Now, two days before Christmas, Kaoru and Mei were enjoying a leisurely stroll through the city. Snow fell listlessly to the ground and crunched beneath their feet. Christmas lights were hung around buildings and fragrant evergreen reefs hung from the doors. Mei had both her arms wrapped around Kaoru's left arm and her face burrowed into his shoulder with only her eyes peaking out over her over-sized scarf. Kaoru walked with a smile on his face as Mei continued to berate him, wanting to know _where _they were going at this ungodly hour.

"You'll see." He said with a smirk.

"You know I hate that smile." Mei scowled at him, her arched brows reaching towards her dark-blond hair. She was slowly going natural, in a couple years she may go back to black. Kaoru doubted it. He wouldn't like it if she did it anyway.

"I can't help it when you scowl like that." he teased.

"I'm not scowling!" She ripped her arms away from him placing her hands on her thin hips.

"Of course not." He rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, you're going to ruin your surprise." He held his arm out for her to take.

Mei's eyes brightened and she re-latched herself to his arm. They travelled in silence for a few blocks. The only sound was the crunch of snow beneath their shoes.

In the distance, the Eiffel tower loomed over the city. Mei gasped and her hand tightened on Kaoru's arm. "You can't really call it a surprise, now." She said smugly, "I know where we're going, to the top of the Eiffel tower." Mei said matter-of-fact.

Kaoru smirked again. "Oh?"

"I've only been dropping hints for months. Don't you think giving it to me a couple days early would keep me from catching on?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said all too innocently. "Cant I just take my girlfriend out for a late night stroll in the snow without other motives?"

Mei rolled her eyes this time.

They reached the park surrounding the tower and Mei's pace quickened, nearly dragging him to the elevator doors at the base of the tower. The snow flurry picked up as she pulled away from him, her gloved hand pressing the call button. Snowflakes fell, clinging to her blond hair and bronze-tinged skin. That was something else that had changed in the last couple years. Mei wasn't tanning as much, she'd stopped purposefully burning herself and now had a darker complexion but in a much more natural way.

The elevator arrived and they stepped inside. The ride wasn't quick enough for Mei who fidgeted the entire way up. Threading and unthreading their fingers while subconsciously flexing her left hand. Kaoru smiled at her before kissing her on the brow to calm her. They reached the top and Mei practically jumped out of the elevator, before she ran over to the edge. The city lights silhouetted her form. The oversized coat she was wearing did nothing for her figure, but her blond hair pulled back away from her face at the back of her neck and her more subtle rose tinted eye shadow and lip gloss gave her the appearance of an elegant Frenchwoman. Had it really been nearly three years ago when she could barely speak French at all? Now she talked circles around Hikaru and Kaoru. Who knew she would take to language as well as she did.

Mei positioned herself by the edge, waiting impatiently for Kaoru to join her. When he did, he wrapped his arm around her waist, enjoying the feeling of her melding with his body, just like she was made for him.

And she was.

"Beautiful…" he said absentmindedly.

"The scenery?"

He shook his head, "You."

She blushed prettily. She hadn't blushed like that for him in a long time. It added to the moment.

"Did you have something you wanted to give me?" she asked softly.

Kaoru smirked and jammed his hands into his pocket.

"Yeah, close your eyes."

Mei did so.

"Now, hold out your hand."

Mei stuck out her left hand, palm down. His smirk deepened. He turned her hand palm up and dropped a white envelope into her hand. Mei opened her eyes and scowled at the offending envelope.

"What's this?"

"Open it."

Mei eyed him warily and ripped open the envelope. Inside was a folded up piece of paper. Her eyes slid over the paper and then back at Kaoru.

"What is this?"

"The first notes we wrote to each other." He smirked.

Mei shook her head. "This is my surprise?"

"Flip it over."

She flipped over the paper, scowling at it.

"It's blank."

She looked up and realized Kaoru had dropped to his knee.

"Read this one." He handed her another envelope from the same pocket. Mei took it with shaking hands.

She unfolded it as Kaoru reached into his pocket.

"What does it say?"

Mei smiled, "Mei, will you marry me?"

Kaoru brought the ring box out from his pocket. Mei screamed 'yes' before he even got the box open. She snatched the box and tore it open shoving the ring on her finger.

"Hey." He pouted, "I wanted to do that."

Mei smiled brightly and flung herself at his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Of course I'll marry you!" she said elatedly.

"There was never a doubt in my mind." He said smugly. Mei pulled away smacking him gently.

"You're awfully confident."

Kaoru smiled and said. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind, because I knew there was no other woman better for me."

Mei smiled and kissed him, "Shut up, Kaoru, you talk too much."

As they kissed the snow drifted down around them and the city lights twinkled in the distance. They'd each come to Paris for different reasons but in the end, they'd found each other. And in the larger scheme of things that seemed much more important.

**A/N: Thank you and sorry for the lateish update, the holidays have grabbed a hold of me and I've been insanely busy coupled with the fact that I'm writing _another _novel (yes I'm a masocist) I've been a tad bit absent minded. I want to thank Engimaticrose4 for betating this story. I'd like to recognize Notimari for her nudging that got this story written in the first place and everyone of you that reviewed or just simply read. I wanted to name you all specificically but I'm running low on time. So please take my sincerests thanks. I never thought writing a prequel to My Brother's Wedding would be quite so popular and all your encouraging reviews that you've been turned on to this couple absolutely warms my heart. I am by no means done with this pairing So look forward to more on them in the future. In closing, thank you thank you thank you for all your support. **

**Nicluvly**


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